My Principles and Values of Assessment

I believe as teachers our primary focus on assessment is to use assessment in the

purpose of working to enhance student learning. I believe that assessment for
learning (also known as formative assessment), assessment of learning (also known
as summative assessment), and assessment as learning are all important parts of
assessment. However, these important parts of assessment are not always
compatible with one another (Lorna, 2012). I believe in order for us as teachers to
further develop our growing success, we need to integrate all important parts of
assessment that works together in its purpose to further enhance student learning.
According to Lorna (2012), we come to new learning by knowing where we were in
the beginning, thinking about what is new or what new information we are
confronting, getting feedback from other people about where our learning fits, and
doing it metacognitively. This means students think about what they do, what they
need to know next and why they have made changes.
Throughout my primary years one to seven I did play many video games. In order for
me to progress further into these game to another level I had to self-correct over and
over and approach the game in different ways to progress through. Although I got
frustrated I still went back and as I continued to play this game I could see an
emerging pattern. Once I understood this pattern it made it very easy for me to
progress through the next levels. I believe this is what teachers should work to
accomplish which is for students to become their own best accessors by starting to
recognise patterns, by being able to move forward in their own learning and using
assessment to get there (self-assessment). I believe that accomplishing these
fundamental skills will not be easy but it is now our role and responsibility as
teachers to teach these to our students. This is why I believe that assessment for
learning and assessment as learning has become an important part in working to
enhance student learning.

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and Assessment

The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers are based on the most ambitious
goal, that every child must succeed in an education worth having (AITSL, 2014).

AITSL supports the Melbourne declaration on educational goals for young

Australians to become active and informed citizens, confident and creative
individuals, and successful learners. The standards are intended for every teacher of
every student and supports the planning and management for the teaching
profession. The standards also provide a map of teachers career paths from initial
training, induction and early experience through to the heights of the profession. The
standards also articulate the skills needed by the best of teachers which involve
planning, modelling, supporting and collaboration.
AITSL standards 5.1 -5.5 and 7.1 are focused on assessment. I believe these ATSIL
standards is a good beginning guide in what skills is expected to effectively support
our students and enhance their learning. As I believe all parts of assessment are
important and that they should all work together in its purpose to further enhance
student learning, in order to reach graduate level standard 5.1 5.4, teachers must
be able to demonstrate their understanding of assessment strategies, including
informal and formal, diagnostic, formative and summative approaches to assess
student learning. Not only do teachers need to be able to demonstrate these
assessment strategies but to more importantly know when is the best time to. I
believe for all graduate teachers this is imperative in order to effectively enhance
student learning. It is very important that teachers can meet graduate standard 5.5
and understand the purpose of keeping accurate and reliable records of student
achievement. I believe the purpose of keeping accurate and reliable records of
student achievement is so we as teachers can justify our assessment. By gathering
a whole body of evidence we as teachers can justify what evidence we used and
how we used it.
Why is assessment for learning powerful?
I believe assessment for learning is powerful when done right. Assessment for
learning is a shift in thinking, meaning thinking about what it is your doing and why
you are doing it (Lorna, 2012). Throughout my experience in primary schools there
were classes where students would do peer marking, write reflections and
interview/question other peers, and this was the teachers idea of assessment for
learning. Although these are commonly used assessment techniques, a fundamental
change was needed. What these teachers needed to fundamentally change was for

students to be aware of what they are doing and why they are doing it. I believe if
students are not aware of and are not being taught why they are doing what they are
doing, there will be just a collection of mini assessment of learning which are then
used as the foundation for a final mark or a final grade. I believe assessment for
learning is really about asking ourselves what is it that we really want students to
learn and how can students use what they have learnt to further enhance their
learning.
I believe assessment for learning should be focused on the typical and predictable
misunderstandings that students are most likely to stumble upon. If teachers assess
for those misunderstandings that they are aware of that will most likely get in a
students way, they can structure the learning environment in ways that contribute to
those students learning (Clarke & Pittaway, 2014). For instance, this can be done
through grouping students in different ability groups or pairing students with different
abilities that help support each other. One of my goals for assessment for learning is
to not only ensure students develop an understanding of what is being taught but to
also ensure the process of learning for students that experience
difficulty/misunderstandings is quickened. Not only by the end will you have students
that have done better and understand more so than others, but have also moved the
students who experience difficulty by providing them with alternative patterns that will
move them forward. This is why I believe assessment for learning when done right is
very powerful.
Assessment practices and techniques I intend to use
I believe in order to choose the most appropriate assessment techniques for
assessment, the most important question every teacher should have in their mind
whenever they are doing assessment is what is this for? What do I need to find out
from it? And how am I going to use this information that I get from it? Doing
assessment is very similar process to assessment for learning as you are gathering
evidence for student learning (McTighe, 2013). If a teacher for assessment of
learning were to report to a students parent about the status of their childs learning,
the teacher will need to be gathering a whole body of evidence from a variety of
places. The teacher will be gathering it formally (essays, journal writings, portfolios),
informally (projects, tests, assignments), and by noting down students behaviours

and attitudes in the classroom. To ensure that the status report of a students
learning is accurate it is important that all teachers can justify their assessment. This
is why a whole body of evidence is gathered in order to justify what evidence we
used and how we used it.
Understanding by Design (UbD)
Throughout my teaching I intend to use the Understanding by Design (UbD) by
Wiggins and McTighe (2004) for improving student achievement. UbD works within
the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA, 2013)
achievement standards to help teachers clarify learning goals, devise revealing
assessments of student understanding, and create effective and engaging learning
activities. UbD assesses understanding, meaning just because students know things
does not mean they understand it (McTighe, 2013). UbD is important because it
doesnt just include tests, facts and basic skills but also assessments that allow
students to demonstrate their understanding. For instance, assessing students if
they can use what they have learnt, if they can explain what they have learnt in their
own words, if they can teach it to someone else.
Backward Design
My goal is to improve student achievement and for students to be able to transfer
their learning. I believe working in a Backwards Design will help achieve this goal.
According to Wiggins (2013) Backward Design means to know where youre going
so that you better understand where you are now so that the steps you take are
always in the right direction. The Backward Design has three stages as shown in
Figure 1. Stage 1 is focused on planning what students should know, understand,
and be able to do. It is also focuses on deciding what is worthy of understanding and
what enduring understandings are desired (McTighe and Wiggins, 2004). In this first
stage the teacher will consider goals, examine content standards and review
curriculum expectations.

Stage 2 addresses how we know if students have achieved the desired results, if
students have met the curriculum standards, and what evidence of student
understanding will be accepted. The backward design approach encourages
teachers to think like an assessor before designing a unit of work. This encourages
teachers to consider straight away how they will determine whether students have
attained the desired understandings. When planning to collective evidence of
understanding, it is important to consider a range of assessment methods shown in
figure 2. McTighe and Wiggins (2004) suggests that it is important that a backward
design process incorporates a balanced use of different types of assessments. This
is because by having collection of evidence over time our assessments can be
justified which is what is increasingly becoming a requirement from teachers.

Once the teacher has decided on what evidence of student understanding will be
accepted, planning instructional activities can commence. As shown in figure 3,
McTighe and Wiggins (2004) provide several key questions that must be considered
at this stage of the backward design. It is important to consider what knowledge and
skills students will need to perform effectively and achieve desired results. Activities
must be designed carefully including the materials and resources to ensure students
will equip the knowledge and skills needed.

How I have demonstrated assessment for learning in the classroom

Standard 5. Assess, provide feedback and report on student finding
5.4 Interpret student data
The artefacts below demonstrate a Year One Geography assessment that I used to
evaluate student learning during my second practicum. This is connected to standard
five as I have interpreted student assessment data through using a grading chart.
The grading chart allowed me to report on student findings where students
demonstrated difficulty and success. By highlighting the areas that most students
demonstrated misunderstandings I was able to in future structure the learning
environment to contribute to those students learning. I noted down the couple of
areas that needed development and the next day I took the following students with
misunderstandings and did a little group activity with them to provide them with
alternative patterns that will move them forward. I believe this is an example of how
assessment for learning can be powerful when done right.